Penalties cost the Bucs a tough loss to VMI

On Oct. 8, the ETSU football team took on VMI in a Southern Conference matchup that did not end well for the Bucs.

ETSU appeared to shoot themselves in the foot judging from the numbers of penalties that resulted in a loss of yards. In the first half of the game, the Bucs totaled nine penalties for a loss of 84 yards.

VMI capitalized on ETSU’s mistakes in the first half and went to their pass game.

Tailback Alex Keys (Rocky Mount, Va.) made his way down the field to give VMI their first seven points of the game, and quarterback Al Cobb (Pulaski, Tenn.) took it from there as he added three more touchdowns for VMI in the first quarter — a 54-yard touchdown pass to Javeon Lara (Schulenburg, Texas), a 45-yard to Aaron Sanders (Stafford, Va.) and a 9-yard toss to Chad Jacob (Mechanicsville, Va.).

The Bucs could not respond and the first half ended 27-0.

ETSU’s offense would continue to be unsuccessful in the second half. VMI scored a field goal in the third quarter and a 73-yard scoring run by Tyain Smith (Chesapeake, Va.) in the fourth quarter to bring their lead to 37-0.

“Nick (Sexton) faced a lot of pressure, but he did a nice job hanging in the pocket and made a nice pass,” Styles said. “Nick threw a good ball and gave me a chance to make a play.”

Despite a good drive down the field that led to a score, ETSU gained momentum a little too late.

VMI came out victorious 37-7.

“We have to move the ball better on offense,” said Head Coach Carl Torbush. “We have to get first downs and put some points on the board. Defensively, we can’t give up the big play, and we gave up a few of them today. On offense, we either have to score or kick, and our special teams haven’t been able to create any field position the last couple of weeks.”

ETSU has only scored 14 points in the last 12 quarters of play since the start of the season when they achieved 54 points in their back-to-back winning games. They are now 2-3 overall, 1-3 in SoCon action.

This Saturday, they will be facing Furman at noon in Kermit Tipton Stadium.

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About the AuthorGarrett Tumlin

Garrett Tumlin is a senior majoring in journalism with a minor in sports management. He is vice president of ETSU’s Black Affairs Association and a leader for Quest. He is also a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. A Chattanooga native, Tumlin has always loved writing and sports and is excited to be an athletics writer for the East Tennessean. He also works for BucTV. More recently, Tumlin has started working at the Herald & Tribune in Jonesborough. He loves basketball and his favorite NBA team is the Celtics.

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